The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, por Walter Benjamin

  

Walter Benjamin (1936)

The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction

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Source: UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television;
Transcribed: by Andy Blunden 1998; proofed and corrected Feb. 2005.

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“Our fine arts were developed, their types and uses were established, in times very different from the present, by men whose power of action upon things was insignificant in comparison with ours. But the amazing growth of our techniques, the adaptability and precision they have attained, the ideas and habits they are creating, make it a certainty that profound changes are impending in the ancient craft of the Beautiful. In all the arts there is a physical component which can no longer be considered or treated as it used to be, which cannot remain unaffected by our modern knowledge and power. For the last twenty years neither matter nor space nor time has been what it was from time immemorial. We must expect great innovations to transform the entire technique of the arts, thereby affecting artistic invention itself and perhaps even bringing about an amazing change in our very notion of art.”
Paul Valéry, Pièces sur L’Art, 1931
Le Conquete de l’ubiquite

"Preface

When Marx undertook his critique of the capitalistic mode of production, this mode was in its infancy. Marx directed his efforts in such a way as to give them prognostic value. He went back to the basic conditions underlying capitalistic production and through his presentation showed what could be expected of capitalism in the future. The result was that one could expect it not only to exploit the proletariat with increasing intensity, but ultimately to create conditions which would make it possible to abolish capitalism itself.

The transformation of the superstructure, which takes place far more slowly than that of the substructure, has taken more than half a century to manifest in all areas of culture the change in the conditions of production. Only today can it be indicated what form this has taken. Certain prognostic requirements should be met by these statements. However, theses about the art of the proletariat after its assumption of power or about the art of a classless society would have less bearing on these demands than theses about the developmental tendencies of art under present conditions of production.(...)"


Esta obra fue escrita en inglés, por eso la traigo en la versión original hasta Docementos. Es fácilmente encontrable editada en papel en español, pero aún más en Internet. De este modo, y teniendo en cuenta la filosofía de Docementos, que entiende que todo está en la red, pongo los siguientes enlaces para que lo puedan leer los no anglófonos:

• http://www.pdf-search-engine.com/la-obra-de-arte-en-la-epoca-de-su-reproductibilidad-tecnica-pdf.html
  
• http://www.jacquesderrida.com.ar/restos/benjamin_arte.htm
• http://www.bienalfindelmundo.org/proyectospedagogicos/laobradearteenlaepocadesureproductibilidadtecnica.pdf
• http://www.temakel.com/texfilbenjaminor.htm

He desechado la opción de poner enlaces a los sitios que referencian a Walter Benjamin, debido a la naturaleza de la sección en la que enclavo su obra "La obra de arte en la época...". No lo descarto para otra ocasión y ubicación.